A Serenade to Shakespeare

Most of the big Shakespeare celebrations have come and gone. In case you missed it, 2016 is the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. Just a few years ago, we were celebrating the 450th anniversary of his birth (a date not quite as fixed as his death) in 2014. If the math fails you, that's 1564 - 1616 for good ol' Will Shakespeare.

I spent a whole year back in 2014 celebrating the 450th. Productions connected to Shakespeare's works on the stage: Giulio Cesare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and I Capuleti e i Montecchi, a huge scenes program featuring excerpts of both the Shakespeare plays and their operatic treatments: scenes from The Tempest, Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and The Merry Wives of Windsor with the opera versions by Hoiby, Britten, Gounod, Nicolai, and Verdi, and a special evening of "Songs and Sonnets" focused on songs with Shakespeare texts by Tippet, Finzi, Quilter, Korngold, Thomson, and Vaughan Williams (his Serenade to Music was the finale.) We documented the whole year via the talents of videographer Anne Kostalas. The documentary, which is fascinating in all that it encompasses, is viewable here (highly recommended!): Shakespeare at Opera McGill

This year, I missed the big celebration in London, England (by just a few days) put together by The Globe. It looked amazing and I hope it was a huge success. Here's a link to that site: Shakespeare400 at the Globe

There were, are still, many more celebrations ongoing. One of them is happening toward the end of July at the Toronto Summer Music Festival. Again, another link: July 27th Shakespeare Serenade at the TSMF

This is a combination of the Shakespeare scenes program and the evening of songs and sonnets from the Opera McGill 450th celebration and I'm really looking forward to putting these two evenings together for a Toronto audience. It's such a huge program that I couldn't play the whole thing, so I invited the wondrous Michael Shannon to share the program with me at the piano. It's all happening at the University of Toronto's Walter Hall on July 27th. Check that link out for ticket info and don't miss it!

Putting this program together has been a rather huge challenge. There are 16 singers involved, most of whom live in the Greater Toronto Area and are leading very busy lives this summer. The scenes program is slightly easier because it involves a trio or a quartet of people -- that's easy to schedule. The Serenade second-half of the program, however, is staged with all 16 singers moving about as individuals. There's only one way to do this and that's to have everyone present in order to make the interactions work. We're basically doing it in one night, so wish us all luck.

Not that I'm worried because the talent of the performers is huge, as is their experience. These singers have graced Canadian stages from Vancouver Opera to the Canadian Opera Company to L'opéra de Montreal as well as performing in hundreds of opera productions at their schools (yes, the majority did go to McGill but, hey, I wanted to work with my former students again!), summer training programs throughout Canada and the United States, and Indie opera companies like Opera5, Compagnie Baroque Mont-Royal, and Stu&Jess Productions. Michael Shannon, who is also a former student, has been spending his time learning his operatic trade at places like the San Francisco Opera and the C.O.C.; not too shabby!

It's a concert inspired by the Bard, with a traditional kind of opera scenes program yet with the twist being that the audience will first watch the singers act the original Shakespeare scene and then watch and hear what it looks like when adapted for the operatic stage. Truly a unique way of presenting these scenes and one that informs both the Shakespeare and the operatic version. It's also quite challenging for the singers to act the Shakespeare!

The second half is a non-traditional approach to a song recital. Normally, a singer walks out onto the concert stage with a pianist in tow, bows to the audience and then sings through a cycle of songs by someone, with the emphasis being on the text and the music. Dramatic energy and action is typically frowned upon (god knows why…) by many who view the recital as something quite conservative and stolid for, um, serious people. The audience sits in silence and reads translations of texts while they listen. (Sometimes I think I might as well be listening to a recording at many of the recent recitals I've attended.) When taken to its extreme, a singer can take away any original perspective on the piece, giving up any sort of personal stamp on a set of songs in order to give, I don't know, some sort of justice to the purity of the composer perhaps? This drives me crazy because, of course, with the great recitalists that is the last thing they do.

Well, this second half won't be like that at all. There'll be over a dozen singers on the stage, casually drinking and listening to each other express their love, anger, betrayal, dismay, or hope via the most amazing texts by Shakespeare set to music by some of the greatest composers of the 20th century. The idea is that these people onstage have just left some sort of summer dinner party and have entered the garden to enjoy more of each other, while some are inspired to recite poetry (via a number of the Sonnets) and fall in and out of love.  It all ends with all of the singers performing the magical Vaughan Williams Serenade To Music, which if you've never heard it sung by soloists with piano accompaniment is sure to please. In fact, my favourite song - ever - is featured on the evening's program and I can't wait to perform it live!

And make sure to check out the other amazing evenings at the Toronto Summer Music Festival. Here's the link to their home site: Toronto Summer Music Festival website

Community in Opera

Community:

"a unified body of individuals" 

or 

"an interacting population with common interests, goals, history, or culture"
 - Webster's online dictionary

Opera companies, summer programs, young artist training programs, and practically every guesting gig in opera share what I'd call the "idea of community". From disparate parts of the globe, varied people with different specialties come together for a brief period of time to unify, interact, and collaborate to create an opera production.  They become a community, and oftentimes a community that feels like a family. Yet these are temporary communities for the most part. They energetically come together, rehearse intensely, oftentimes sharing deep secrets, memories, or emotions, perform as one, and then disappear literally overnight. Temporarily a close-knit and vital community. (Cue Cher: "Everything is temporary!")

Some opera companies, perhaps a few too many, are dysfunctional families filled with verbally abusive parental figures, Maestro Dad and Director Mom, arguing with their more moneyed relatives, Uncle Arts Director and Aunt Exec Director, while trying to cajole their adult children to do what they want, when they want it, and exactly how they'd like it.

Okay, not the best metaphor perhaps.

But the land of opera is one filled with communities and it's such a wondrous moment when you come into contact with a real, honest-to-god community of people who are actually there for each other, return year after year (summer festival music staffs, for instance), and seem to actually want to collaborate in such a way that has nothing to do with their own agendas but everything to do with the common purpose at hand; artistic vision meets artistic excellence for the greater good.

I've experienced this just a few times in my 30+ years in the business.

The first was at Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) in the mid 1980s. Back then it was a 1+ million dollar opera company nestled on the campus of Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa putting on eclectic seasons performed in repertory fashion. There was a synergy among the music and directing staff, many who returned year after year (brilliant people like Reed Woodhouse, Buck Ross, William Farlow, and Stewart Robertson) to coach, prepare, and assist the apprentices as well as the guest artists who were all brought together by the founders Robert Larsen and Doug Duncan. Guests returned year after year and sang multiple roles. Amazing artists like Lauren Flanigan (the greatest Curly's Wife ever, the funniest Clorinda ever, the most vivid Musetta), Evelyn de la Rosa "diva Delarosa" (so many, many coloratura roles), Carroll Freeman (great with Rossini tenor roles), Anne Larson (the "local" character mezzo who sang circles around everyone else - her Bertha and her Thisbe, not to mention her Quickly, still sit in my mind as the definitive versions of those roles), along with the spectacular Nova Thomas (the greatest "Donde lieta" I'll ever hear) returned year after year to Indianola to make memorable music in the middle of Iowa. The middle of Iowa, not even in Des Moines, (in Indianowhere as we used to call it!) Why? Was it Robert? Was it singing in that unique theatre? It certainly couldn't have been the artist fees or the high heat and humidity.

I think that there was a palpable sense of community, of family, that was created by the chemistry of the artists, the artistic staff, Stewart, Doug and Robert. It was a unique group of people, from all over the U.S. (and Glasgow in Stewart's case). This community was disassembled during the years following Doug's untimely death in 1988. I was there from the summer of 1984 thru to 1988, then returned in 1990 and again in the mid 90s. People left, things changed, the community changed and grew apart, as is natural. I had started there behind the lobby bar, moving pianos and Xerox machines, taking notes for RLL at his feet in the pit, and later moved on appearing onstage in my first professional role, Turandot's father, Emperor Altoum, being a rehearsal pianist for shows like Boris Godunov and conducting a performance of Albert Herring (my one and only time in that glorious pit!) DMMO was my first operatic family and its community was my operatic Midwestern small "home" town where I got the chance to grow up, immersed in opera.

Stewart went off to Glimmerglass and made a conscious effort during his twenty years there as Music Director to create his own unique community. I was lucky to be a part of it for many seasons. There was a core music staff that returned year after year. Unbelievably talented pianists, coaches, administrative interns, and assistant conductors and directors flourished next to Lake Otsego. I think many, especially the young artist returnees, felt a special quality to the Glimmerglass community sequestered each summer in upstate New York. A combination of rehearsing in un-air-conditioned venues, sitting in intense heat listening to recitals in Cherry Valley, freezing our arses off during late night piano dress rehearsals in the theatre, and eating Alex&Ika's duck curry all added up to creating an experience one had to embrace fully, or resent each day otherwise. Years of knowing our colleagues really helped when the goings got tough, the schedules got tougher, or the singers needed help or advice for successfully navigating a long and challenging summer. Some of my fondest memories are of the YAAP recitals played by the likes of Timothy Hoekmann (certainly one of the greatest collaborative pianists of his generation), Mark Trawka, Laurann Gilley, David Moody, or the legendary Dan Saunders.

After I left Glimmerglass, I worked many places and found myself in various other communities, some quite enriching, some challenging, some supportive, and others totally alien to my way of thinking.

The Opera McGill community has a flow in and out of it because of the students starting their studies and then, inevitably, graduating and moving on, but the core stays - the coaches, voice instructors, and especially the Opera McGill designers. Vincent Lefevre, his wife Ginette Grenier and I have designed almost 50 operas together in ten years. That's an amazing amount of opera to do together! Our community is tight and their artistic expression and mine weave in and out of each other like a beautiful tapestry.

And then last month I spent three weeks in Toronto for Opera5's immersive, unique, bizarre, deafening, manic, wondrous, crazed, yet brilliant Die Fledermaus in an, I'll be honest, ugly venue (918 Bathurst) conducting the best pick-up orchestra I've ever had the pleasure of making music with (more on that later) with a cast and chorus who gave one of the most spirited and alive performances I've ever been a part of recently.

The cast and production team came from all over - Ireland, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Newfoundland, and even the U.S. - many of whom didn't know each other well. However, the core group knew each other very well. The artistic vision of Opera5 is led by Aria Umezawa. The general director is Rachel Krehm. Both went to McGill and after graduation, returned to Toronto where they, and three others, founded Opera5 (one of a dozen or so "independent opera" companies in the GTA). Opera5 put themselves on the map with the creation of their tongue-in-cheek "Opera Cheats" YouTube video series. These hilarious videos have had over 100,000 combined views and major opera companies now link to them. If you haven't seen one, I urge you to click here and check them out. Here's the link to their recent Hoffmann video: OperaCheat for Hoffmann

Come to find out, in addition to creating unique opera productions in the GTA and those Opera Cheats, what their real genius seems to be is assembling and nurturing fantastic communities of people. It's a rare gift, fyi, as the ability to put people together and get them to really feel like an "interacting population with common interests, goals, history or culture" is one of THE most important elements to running any successful opera company. Casting is important, yes, but if that cast doesn't jive with themselves or with members of the production team, there's little one can do but get through the performances while gritting your teeth.

But Opera5's community is different than any I've been seen before. It is quite youthful, almost obliviously naive as to how opera usually gets done. An energy that's very Buffy the Vampire Slayer: irreverence played up against the stolid traditions of O.P.E.R.A. It was a breath of fresh air for me, even though I felt like the odd man out - namely because I was twenty years older than anyone else in the room!

I admit that I was put off by so much right off the bat (excuse the pun). For instance, it drove me crazy that everyone congregated around the rehearsal table before, during, and after rehearsals. For those who might not know, the rehearsal table is a place for the director and their production team to gather, watch rehearsals, and work from in order to create with the cast. It's where we put our stuff and where we sit in judgment. It's certainly not a place to constantly socialize. However, Opera5's rehearsal table was a place where everyone - team, chorus members, cast - congregated (on both sides of the table!) to sit, watch, eat, and talk. It drove me crazy.

Yet it was a place that obviously helped build this Fledermaus community. People brought in shared meals, treats, and snacks. Everyone was equal there; there seemed no false hierarchy (director, then AD, then PSM, then ASMs, then others like designers and interns) at the table with lowly singers put into the corners of the room in chairs by themselves. It allowed everyone to be on equal footing and that allowed everyone to be free to create.

This Fledermaus was truly a collaborative effort, particularly because Aria left for the Merola program before the show moved to the venue. The chorus was asked to improv their way through interactions with audience members and they really were responsible for making those interactions come to life. The dialogue was initially rendered by Aria, but over the course of rehearsals everyone had a part in cutting, reworking, or rewriting the book. They were all so comfortable with each other that by the time the orchestra was added, spontaneous ideas flowed between everyone. Now I'm not saying that this does not happen other places, I've certainly witnessed fantastic collaborative efforts before, but I think this flow was different. It was much more egalitarian, much less controlled, much less judged, much more millennial, in the best sense of that word. If one can aim a criticism at Millennials it is that they think all opinions are valid (except anything that seems un-PC, which lately seems to be about everything, mind you), but for the most part ideas were tried out and allowed to fail, or to succeed, or to wither and then evolve. The orchestra and I, on a whim, even added a drunken waltz at the top of Act 3 to underscore Frank's drunken entrance. I conducted drunk and they played drunk. It was hysterical.

Here's a pic taken during that moment (yes, by an orchestra member):

The orchestra - another great example of positive community building! Amazing players (most from either Kingston Symphony or Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony) who played with terrific musicality and were remarkably together, considering the venue's acoustics and placement of the singers (mostly behind me). They played with an energy that was also very generous and giving. For instance, when the audience got too loud on our closing night, the orchestra just started to play louder so that the singers could hear the music, something that many other orchestras (especially pickup orchestras) might not have cared to do.

Not caring is a disease running rampant in our business (especially among singers, orchestral players, and administrators). I think an antidote to this problem can be found in community building.

For you see, many of the singers and players had already taken part in previous productions for Opera5 and so they had previously invested their time and energy into the company and the audiences. They understood the company's goals and artistic vision. For instance, when the orchestra was asked to dress in anything other than traditional black, they showed up in purple wigs, feather boas, tropical shirts, and tiaras. 

It goes without saying that when you are surrounded by people who are enjoying themselves while they are making music, the music that is made can be incredibly satisfying.

And that's what building a community of people gets you in opera.

So my advice to all is to surround yourself with positive and talented people who are interested in creating something together and then - here's the biggest part - invite them back again and again and again. Obviously not everyone all the time (that'd be impossible), but what's wrong with having the feeling of a "rep" company? It works for summer stock festivals. It worked for Arthur Freed making musicals at MGM in the 40s and 50s. It worked for Steve Jobs at Apple. It worked for Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti, composers who loved writing many different roles for the same singers.

Why do some opera companies constantly hire different singers year after year? I think it's because they mistake novelty with marketing excitement. I'd argue there's a point to putting the same singer on the same stage year after year: audiences like to feel that they too are part of a community. Enjoying a singer's artistry in different productions from season to season is a very easy way to connect audience members with the company's sense of community. It literally builds an audience.

If there's anything we know in opera, it is that it most undoubtedly takes a village! So find a village, even if that means volunteering at first, or singing in the chorus, or being an ASM. Or take from Aria's and Rachel's handbook and build one yourself. Think not about what operas you'd put on, or who you'd cast, or where you'd perform. Instead, think about what sort of people you want at your table. Start there.

And bring roasted chicken or cookies or both.

Toronto's Opera Scene!

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Toronto Blog

I’ve been in Toronto the last two weeks rehearsing J. Strauss’ Die Fledermaus with Opera5, one of the many new, “indie” opera companies that have sprung up over the last five years in this, the 5^th largest city in North America.

Yes, 5^th largest city. At over 6 million, Toronto is bigger than Miami, Philly, Dallas-Ft.Worth, Boston, Houston, or Washington, D.C.

So there should be a viable operatic community here beyond the Canadian Opera Company.

And in my short time in Toronto, it is clear that it is thriving.

I arrived the weekend that Against the Grain Theatre (AGT) closed their critically acclaimed “translaptation” of Mozart’s Così fan tutte re-titled to “A Little Too Cozy”. It starred three McGill alumni: baritone Cairan Ryan (a former L’opéra de Montreal Atelier young artist), tenor Aaron Sheppard (currently a member of the Canadian Opera Company’s young artist program), and mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb (who just finished up her 1^st year at the Met’s prestigious Lindemann program). It was presented in an actual TV studio (it took place in a reality show setting, fyi) and was directed by the crown prince of Indie opera here in Canada, Joel Ivany.

Then a few nights ago I went to see the world premiere production of Tapestry Opera’s Rocking Horse Winner, based on the short story of D.H. Lawrence. The creative libretto, which included the character of the “House” (sung by a quartet) was perfectly set by the amazing Scottish composer Gareth Williams. In fact, I sat there thinking that this was the 21^st century’s version of The Turn of the Screw. Orchestrated for string quartet, piano (and toy piano at the end), the voices of the “house” were perfectly blended into the tense, lyrical strings which provided both an harmonic tapestry as well as becoming a character themselves during the horse racing scenes; Britten would have been proud to have written this score.  I urge everyone to check out this composer in more detail. Mr. Williams website:  Gareth Williams, composer 

Tapestry Opera's website is located here: Tapestry Opera Website

The cast was terrific! The "House" was sung by Sean Clark, Aaron Durand, Erica Iris, and Elaina Moreau; the Mother, Ava was given a sensitive portrayal by Carla Huhtanen, Uncle Oscar was Keith Klassen (who looked and sounded like a Broadway star), Bassett was Peter McGillivray, and the most amazing performance I’ve seen in quite some time was by the young tenor Asitha Tennekoon who sang the lead role of young Paul. This young singing actor gave an exceptional performance, artistic administrators should get this guy’s number and contract him now before others find out about him.  I was also most impressed with Michael Mori’s restrained but spooky direction, and the whole wondrous production design (particularly the set by Camellia Koo). The opera was conducted by the young and preternaturally talented Maestro, Jordan de Souza. He’s off to Europe to take a position with the Komische Oper in Berlin and at the Bregenz Festival in Austria.  I expect Mo. de Souza will take over the operatic world any day now. If you've never heard of him, check out this site: Mo. JdS website

The reason for my stay in Toronto is to conduct Opera5’s very broad and unique take on Fledermaus. It is an “immersive” production, meaning that the audience and the actors will be in the same space, literally dancing and interacting with each other. The 1^st act is being designed and given in a “2D” set, then for the 2^nd act the idea is that the opera jumps off of the stage and into full “3D”. Added into the mix is the Toronto-based drag queen Pearl Harbor as an MC of sorts, plus cabaret acts including a Burlesque dancer and an aerialist doing her moves literally within and above the audience! Although I wonder if all of the ideas inherent in Fledermaus work easily into this concept as the piece is still about a philandering married couple who blame the evening’s transgressions on the “champagne” – although in this production’s case there is a beer sponsor, so free Steam Whistle beer is being served on opening night throughout (yes, throughout!) the opera. We’ve changed all champagne references to “Steam Whistle”, in a blatant advertisement for this Toronto based beer.

If I can generalize what makes these sorts of Indie opera ventures different, I’d say that Against the Grain sets to manipulate conventional opera into new pieces entirely, tossing out the da Ponte libretti to Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Così fan tutte and replacing them with all new characters and plots while keeping Mozart’s musical score. Eventually, they may run out of things to adapt and retranslate, so it’ll be interesting to see where the company goes. They are certainly venue-based and have exceptional PR here in Canada, plus have good taste in singers. The production of A Little Too Cozy was accompanied by string quartet and piano, which was also the orchestration for Tapestry’s recent world premiere. Yet Tapestry’s opera was actually scored for string quartet and piano, Mozart’s operas are for much more than that, usually. Tapestry seems to be much more of a “real” opera company (sorry to even suggest that moniker) in that they have a budget that can produce opera in a very polished and professional manner. Rocking Horse Winner looked like a Glimmerglass production, and could easily hold its own against many productions I've seen at much larger opera companies. The production values didn’t seem in any way “indie”, and so I wonder what Tapestry Opera might be able to do if they had even a portion of the COC's annual budget.

Opera5 is the upstart company, at least that’s the feeling I get from talking with many young singers here in Toronto. They are the plucky, “let’s-put-on-an-opera-in-my-barn” artists who are faced with the challenge of how to put on professional opera (with many artists who are Equity) with virtually no infrastructure most opera companies have: a paid staff, for instance, an office from which to sell tickets, a development director to raise funds, or regular rehearsal spaces. Opera5 is headed by the artistic vision of stage director, Aria Umezawa and Rachel Krehm (Opera5’s “general director” but really she’s a one-woman opera administration team.) Both are former students of mine. Frankly so many of the people involved in the Toronto Indie Opera scene are former students that there really is a mini-McGill community working inside these companies and on their stages! Check out Opera5's website: Opera5

[Make sure to read to the bottom to see a bunch of bonus links to HILARIOUS videos produced by Opera5!!]

Aria’s vision for this Fledermaus has been taken on by our co-director Jessica Derventzis while Aria moves to San Francisco for the summer to take part in the prestigious Merola Opera young artist program. Aria was my assistant director for over a dozen shows at McGill during my early years there and I couldn’t have built the program without her. She has a unique artistic vision, quite her own. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens after the wider world gets to know her. Jessica herself has produced numerous operas in Montreal under the team name of "Jess&Stu Productions", so she represents yet another indie opera company involved in creating found space, or venue-based,opera productions. 

Here's an interview with Aria: Interview on schmopera.com

Here's Jessica's site: Stu&Jess 

One of the things that does seem to make Opera5 different than the rest is their commitment to presenting operas with fuller orchestrations. Granted for this show there isn’t room in the space for a full orchestra. I think the dozen musicians we have in this reduced orchestration actually make a lovely sound that combines quite nicely with the voices in the room. For all of act 2 and 3 the singers are behind me, which is a challenge in a musical score that has multiple fermati (moments when the music is held in suspension from a time perspective) that normally are controlled by everyone watching the conductor. It reminds me of a number of musicals I’ve conducted where the orchestra is behind or, in some cases, in completely different rooms, than the singers. It can totally be done, and quite easily. It just takes rehearsal and planning (and flexibility from everyone involved!) Needless to say, it takes exceptional players to play a reduction and make it sound spectacular. These players are some of the best I’ve ever conducted, so it makes my job so much easier!

If there is a future for opera beyond the endless Boheme remounts, it is in the smaller opera companies and venue-based operatic productions springing up in New York City, Toronto, San Francisco, and Montreal. In fact, Michael Mori, the artistic director of Tapestry Opera has founded a group representing a dozen independent opera companies in the Toronto are: Indie Opera T. O.  I wonder if Opera America and/or opera.ca (the Canadian wing of professional opera companies) are thinking about how to include these smaller opera companies in the wider discussions happening about the future of the art form?

If any of my readers are interested in supporting these companies, or finding out more about them, I urge you to check out their websites that I’ve provided along the way. Opera5 could really use your support, so if you are in the Toronto area on June 8, 9, 10, or 11 buy a ticket and come to the show. It certainly will NOT be your grandma’s Fledermaus, and you might find yourself enjoying the sonic boom of hearing an Adele sing her famous Laughing Song 4 feet away from you while a chorister sings backup literally standing next to you! Here's the link to buy tickets: Tickets for Fledermaus!

And as an added bonus, please check out Opera5's famous "OperaCheat" videos. They have over 100,000 views on YouTube and really shouldn't be missed. I've linked the latest OperaCheat video here: OperaCheats!